


Me, You and Steve

by alexcat



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M, Porn With Plot, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-22 19:50:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 10,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15589443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexcat/pseuds/alexcat
Summary: Steve becomes more than a third wheel to Pepper and Tony.





	1. Steve Dates Pepper and Tony

**Author's Note:**

> The idea came from a silly song by Garfunkel and Oates and a prompt I found somewhere. The song is Me, You and Steve and you can find it on Youtube.

Part 1 – Steve Dates Pepper and Tony 

The first time Tony invited Steve to go out with them, no one thought a lot about it, not even Pepper. Steve was pretty new to the modern world and everyone thought that Tony was being kind. 

There was something very unlike Tony in and of itself but no one bothered to examine it too much. They gave Tony the benefit of the doubt. 

Pepper was excited to do something not technical, for a change. They were going down to Hilton Head Island for a romantic beach get away. She was also excited to think she and Tony might be alone finally. 

Sure, they were alone when they had sex, but it had to be in bed at night since Steve was there all the rest of the time. 

“Ready? The charter leaves at ten,” Tony said to Pepper. 

“Happy put the bags in the cart and all is ready. Are you sure you can leave JARVIS and the suit that long?” 

He kissed her cheek and hugged her to his side. 

“We’ll stop and pick up Steve on the way to the airport,” Tony said almost as an afterthought. 

“What?” 

“You knew Steve was coming. I told you -”

Pepper cut him off mid-word. “No! You did not! A romantic getaway, you said, just the two of us, you said. Tony Stark, I could kill you!”

“I _know_ I told you!” 

“Tony!”

He shrugged. “I can’t uninvite him now, can I?”

“I can!” Her blood was boiling. 

“Come on, Pepper,” he said in that way he had that she always gave in to. “You can’t possibly be mean to him.”

 

Steve was not bad company. As a matter of fact, he was a better date than Tony. He talked to her and really listened when she talked. He opened doors like an old-fashioned gentleman and helped her with her coat. He asked he what was good to eat at a restaurant and took her advice. He gave her thoughtful little gifts like a pen with more than one color for marking documents the old fashioned way, which she actually did now and then. He gave her a Disney Princess watch for her birthday, Belle because she was so intelligent and kind, just like Belle, he told her. 

Tony forgot her birthday and ordered strawberries for her, even though she was allergic to them. 

“Damn you, Tony Stark!” And she gave in. 

*


	2. The Beach Getaway

Part 2 – The Beach Getaway

Tony had rented a house, a nice big one right on the ocean. The realtor met them with the key. Pepper talked to her and got all the details, because Tony simply had no idea how to do anything that normal people did. The realtor gave her a map and list of places to eat, things to do and see. 

Steve carried their bags into the house while Tony talked to Bruce and sent schematics for something back to New York. 

Pepper and Steve looked at the bedrooms and she chose one that opened onto the big deck that faced the ocean. 

“You take this one so yours opens onto the deck, too,” Pepper pointed to the next bedroom. 

“I had no idea this was supposed to be a romantic getaway. He didn’t say a thing,” Steve told Pepper. “I can get a flight back to New York. I don’t want to intrude.”

“Seriously? This is on Tony. He’ll probably work all the time anyway! The realtor said there’s a service that will deliver groceries. Let’s call them, then you and I can hit the beach. ‘Iron Man’ may not get off that damned phone today.” 

She was angry. And found that she couldn’t be angry at Steve. This was all on Tony Stark. 

An hour later, Pepper found herself at Steve’s bedroom door. She realized that she was maybe a little old for her tiny, black bikini but she still looked okay in it. Steve opened the door and she smiled when he gaped at her. Not bad for an old broad, she thought. 

Steve wore surfer trunks and she realized that she was gaping at him, too. Tony was compact and pretty well-muscled for a not so big man, but Steve was perfection. Tall, muscular, young, and seemingly oblivious to his perfect looks. 

They hit the beach and ran down to the water’s edge. 

“Oh, shit, it’s cold!” Pepper shouted over the roar of the waves. 

Steve laughed and scooped her up, carrying her out to where the water was several feet deep and he dropped her in the water! She went under and popped up sputtering and laughing. 

“You!” she shouted as she splashed him with huge swats at the water. 

He was laughing, too. “It’s the best to just plunge in and get the cold and wet over with!” 

She watched as he went out farther and dove under a crashing wave, coming up after with his hair and skin shimmering from the water and sunlight. 

Shit! She shouldn’t be thinking the things she was thinking about him, but it was hard not to. Steve Rogers was as nice as he was gorgeous. 

“Hot as hell, isn’t he?” She almost jumped out of her skin when Tony said the words as he walked up to her. 

“You startled me!” 

“You do know you were looking at him like a dog looks at a fresh bone.” 

She was as quick as he was. “You mean like you look at your Iron Man suit?” 

He winced. “I deserved that, didn’t I?”

She hugged him. “No kidding.”

“You look pretty good in your suit, too,” Tony was looking at her chest. 

Steve stayed in the water, Pepper suspected, so she and Tony could talk without him in the way. 

“He _is_ hot, though,” Tony said. 

“So you already said. Is there something between the two of you that I should know about?” She was joking, sort of. 

“Me and Steve? Why on earth would you ask that?”

“Because you said he’s hot twice in less than five minutes.” 

She looked at Steve playing in the water and missed the slight coloring of the cheeks of the man who never blushed. 

 

Tony had never felt any real interest in men at all and he was shocked at his own admiration of Rogers. After the battle of New York, he actually spent some time with Cap and found out that he was a nice kid – and he was a kid in many ways. 

Of course, he was also a man of another century, another world. 

Tony had taken him under his wing to teach him how to live in this difficult new world. 

Before long, he found himself inviting Cap along wherever he and Pepper went. It actually never crossed his mind that Pepper might be tired of their third wheel.

Until he’d invited Steve on the trip to Hilton Head Island. 

He saw them on the beach and expected to feel jealous as Steve picked Pepper up and dropped her in the water. He felt something else. 

Heat. 

Rogers was as hot as Pepper. Perfection in swimming trunks. Before he realized what he was thinking, he wondered if all of Steve was as perfect as what he’d seen so far. 

He made his way out to the beach. Okay, maybe he hadn’t noticed until now that Pepper was not immune to their companion’s looks either. 

They bantered as they watched Steve swim. 

“I gave him the room beside ours,” Pepper told him. 

“He might hear things.” He made a silly face at her.

“But it opens onto the deck and the beach.” 

“So no deck fucking for us?” Tony said. “Maybe some beach fun then?” 

“And get sand in the cracks?” she asked. 

“You’re no fun!”

“Oh, yes, I am, but you’re too busy with being a hero to notice.” 

Steve surfaced and came onto the shore where Tony and Pepper stood. 

“It’s not so cold once you get used to it. You’re overdressed, Stark.”

“I am fine admiring Pepper.”

“And you, Steve. He was admiring you, too,” Pepper told Steve with a grin at Tony. 

Steve blushed. 

Tony plunged on. “So have you made plans for us?”

Pepper answered, “I have. We can unpack and Steve and I made a grocery list and ordered food to be delivered soon.” She looked at her watch. “Now, actually. Then we can shower and go out to dinner or have something delivered. There’s Chinese, pizza, sushi - whatever.”

She headed back up the beach to the house to meet the grocery delivery. Steve started to go with her, but Tony touched his arm. “You don’t feel uncomfortable here, do you?” 

Steve shrugged. “A little, but I feel that way everywhere. Television is new to me and now you have cell phones and the internet. Not to mention all the other things. But I’m no more uncomfortable than usual.”

He headed back to the house to help Pepper while Tony stayed on the beach, looking out at the waves and wondering how all this was going to play out.

*


	3. Odd Man Out

Part 3 – Odd Man Out 

Steve felt odd, being with Tony and Pepper. He was pretty sure this was supposed to be a romantic holiday with lots of couple time and sex. Tony didn’t seem to have gotten the message about that. 

He helped Pepper put the groceries away and then showered. 

He decided he’d stay in if they went out, to give them some time alone. They opted for a movie and Steve ordered Chinese and piled up on the sofa with X-men movies. He figured he could take most of them in a battle, if they were real. 

He hit the bed about eleven and went to sleep quickly. 

Sounds in the next room woke him about one am. At first, he didn’t know what it was but soon he realized it was a bed creaking rather loudly and in a hard, fast rhythm. He could hear the low tones of Tony’s voice. Of course he talked during sex, too. 

Shit! 

Maybe he should move to another room. Unbidden, images of Tony and Pepper came to his mind. He imagined Tony between her creamy thighs, imagined Tony’s ass and – he was rock hard before he realized it. He sighed and slipped his hand inside his underwear. 

He finished about the time that his neighbors grew quiet. He found some tissue to clean up a little and went to sleep, thinking that perhaps he should go back to New York. 

He woke early and wandered to the kitchen. He made himself a coffee and took it onto the deck to drink it. 

The day was already warm, but there was a sea breeze blowing that cooled things off a little. He’d never been anywhere like this before. He and Bucky had gone to the Jersey shore once but he hadn’t wanted to get out on the beach with his bony little body. This place was a far cry from that. It was huge and luxurious. He’d flown in on a privately chartered jet, for Pete’s sake. 

“There you are.” It was Pepper. He almost blushed, thinking of the sounds he’d heard the night before. “I hope we didn’t bother you too much last night. Tony can’t be quiet to save his own life.” 

“Uh, nope, I slept like a log.” 

She sat beside him and he looked at her. She was a pretty woman, with her strawberry blond hair and freckles. She was slender but her curves had felt just fine when he’d picked her and dumped her in the water yesterday. He knew he shouldn’t be paying that kind of attention to her, but it was hard not to. 

“What do you want to do today?” Pepper asked. 

“You guys do whatever you like. I can hang out on the beach.” 

“Don’t be silly. You’re here with us. Think about it. I’m going in and pinch Tony to see if he’s alive. He doesn’t usually sleep so late.” 

And she was gone. 

He watched fishing boats as they trawled up and down the shore and finally went out of sight. This place was so peaceful that it was hard to believe how much evil there was out there in the world. So far, he only felt at home when he was fighting something evil. He wasn’t sure there was any other place for him in this world. 

It was kind of Tony and Pepper to allow him to hang around them like they did though he suspected it was more Tony than Pepper. 

“There you are, Cap. Nice? Or dull?” Tony waved at the beach. 

“Nice.” 

“Kinda quiet though.” Tony had on trunks and a t-shirt. Steve had never seen him without a shirt. He wanted to see the Arc Reactor without the suit but didn’t know how to ask. 

Tony noticed him looking. “Want to see it?” He pulled up his shirt. There it was in the center of his chest. 

Steve wanted to touch it but thought that might be a bit too much.

“Go ahead. The only person who hates touching it is Pepper.” 

Steve touched it. It looked a little like a tin can in the middle of Stark’s chest. “Does it hurt?” 

“Only if I take it out and the shrapnel all hits my heart.”

“That would smart,” Steve agreed. Tony pulled his shirt down and nothing more was said about it. 

They went out to dinner that evening and Steve joined them. He still felt a little like a third wheel, but it was nice. He hadn’t realized until they got here just how much time he’d been spending with the two of them. 

He knew that Tony must feel sorry for him, and that rankled a little. He was still ready to go toe to toe with Stark over Avenger related issues and often did, but he didn’t know how he felt about being Stark’s charity project. 

*


	4. The Man Crush

Part 4 – The Man Crush 

The odd vacation was in its fourth day. Pepper had puzzled and watched and puzzled some more and she wasn’t at all sure she was all that happy with the conclusion she’d come to. Tony seemed to have some kind of man-crush on Steve. Or something deeper. She saw the way he looked at Steve when he thought no one was looking. 

It was the way he looked at her; to be more exact, the way he looked at her after he fell in love with her. 

Steve had no clue. He was still feeling rather ill at ease, she’d noticed. 

The question was, what was she going to do? She’d shared Tony for years before he realized she was in love with him and now and again since. Could she share him with Steve? Would Steve even want Tony? She was pretty sure he wasn’t really very experienced with women, not to mention with a man. She was also just as sure that Tony was experienced with both. 

And Steve? Did she want to actually be with him and Tony? That one was not hard to answer. She was attracted to Steve. Who wouldn’t be? He was beautiful as well as being a good person. Could she watch Tony touch him? Him touch Tony? 

Lots of questions and no answers and two men who seemed oblivious. 

 

Tony wasn’t nearly as oblivious as Pepper thought. He knew that he’d noticed things about Steve that he normally noticed about Pepper: his smell after he’d showered, the small kind things he did for strangers, like holding doors and honestly, his ass when he was walking away from Tony. 

He wasn’t sure how Steve would react if he made a pass at him. He wasn’t sure how Pepper would react either. 

Pepper and Steve had taken a walk to look for seashells. He decided to hang back and make some calls. They seemed okay with hanging out together without him. 

He made his calls and wandered through the large house, wandering into Steve’s room. Just to see how easy it was to hear things in their room, he turned on the television and found that even fairly low levels of noise could be heard. 

He felt sort of guilty that he and Pepper had made so much noise almost every night. Then his mind wandered to what did Steve do while listening to them? He was pretty sure he knew what he’d do if in the same situation. 

That made a whole new problem. Tony visualized Steve with his hand on his cock. Shit, shit, shit! That was something he didn’t need in his head! 

He heard Pepper and Steve coming up the steps from the beach and hurriedly left Steve’s room and turned the television off in their room. 

Pepper had a little pail full of shells and she was laughing at something Steve said. Steve’s sunglasses were on top of his head and he was telling Pepper a story about him and Barnes, it sounded like. 

“I was wondering if you two got lost.” He greeted them as they rinsed the sand off with the hose on the deck for just that purpose. Pepper was pink from the sun, her freckles making her look like a girl. Steve’s hair was tousled and messy from the wind and he had a few days stubble that made him look even better than he looked without it. 

“No, we just enjoyed the beach. We watched some people surf fishing and we got some lemonade from some kids,” Pepper told him. “Did you get your calls made?” 

“Yes, and the world is still spinning so no more calls.”

“Until you can’t stand not knowing what’s going on,” Steve finished for him. 

Tony grinned and shrugged. “Probably.”

They cooked steaks on the grill that evening and drank a decent amount of wine. Tony was sure Steve didn’t get drunk from it, but he and Pepper got a nice buzz, just enough of one to loosen their tongues. 

Tony said, “Do you think people would freak out if I walked down the beach without a shirt?” 

“You’re not _that_ buff,” Pepper said with a giggle. 

“I think he means being Iron Man,” Steve said with a laugh. “I expect they’d mob you for autographs and selfies.”

“I’m surprised you know what a selfie is,” Tony said. 

“I’m not that backward, Stark.” 

And then Tony blurted out something he actually didn’t mean to say until he’d talked to Pepper about it. “Do you know what a threesome is?” 

Steve blushed. Deeply. “Um, yes. I, uh, do know that.” 

Pepper didn’t look nearly as appalled as Tony thought she would.

“Ever had one?”

Steve bit his lip and nodded.

Tony’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re shitting me.” 

“No. It’s been about seventy years, I guess.”

“They had threesomes then?” 

“It wasn’t the Stone Age. I worked with lots of girls when we did those awful bond tours.”

Tony looked at Pepper. “What about you?” 

She blushed. “Um, once in college. I was pretty drunk and don’t remember much.” 

“And you, Tony?” Steve asked. 

Tony shrugged. “What can I say?” 

Then Steve asked, “Why are you asking?” 

Tony didn’t say anything. 

Pepper finally said, “Tony, answer him.”

Tony had to decide if he was going to say anything or not. His curiosity or maybe it was need won out. 

“I, um, well, I wouldn’t mind having a threesome with you two.” Tony didn’t look at either of them, gazed out at sea instead. 

Steve didn’t say anything but he didn’t look freaked out either. Tony figured if Cap were too upset, he’d have killed him by now. 

 

Pepper was not as stunned as she thought she’d be. 

“I think perhaps this is an idea we have to come to a little slower than just jumping into it,” Pepper finally said.

“We’ve got time.” Tony looked at Steve. “What do you think?” 

“Not a proposal I was expecting. Not something I’ve done either. But I don’t think I mind the idea. I’ve felt the – what? Tension? But I’ve never so much as kissed a guy or even thought about it. I guess I won’t know until I try it, will I?” 

Pepper wondered for a moment why her heart was pounding. She finally realized that she was both scared and very excited by Tony’s crazy idea. 

“So how do we start slow?” Tony asked Pepper. 

“Maybe Steve can just sleep in our bed with us. We can find out if we like sharing space.”

Tony looked like he was seriously pondering something complex. “Not a bad idea. How about a kiss?” 

“Who is going to kiss whom?” Steve asked. 

“I know what kissing Pepper is like and she knows kissing me so maybe we kiss you?” 

“Can’t hurt,” Steve agreed though he was rather pink. 

Pepper surprised both Steve and Tony when she moved beside Steve and kissed his cheek first then she turned his head and kissed him full on the lips. He pulled her into an embrace and returned her kiss. 

Pepper made a sound. His kisses were good, tentative at first but his embrace was not. He held her close and deepened the kiss, his mouth exploring hers in a dance that went from sweet to fully charged in just a few seconds. 

Pepper was not surprised when Tony tapped her on the shoulder. “May I cut in?” 

*


	5. How to Kiss a Hero

Part 5 – How to Kiss a Hero 

Steve looked at Tony a little nervously. Kissing Pepper in front of her boyfriend was weird enough, though he’d certainly thought about it now and again in the last few weeks. Kissing Tony was something completely out of his experience. 

This whole trip had felt surreal. Hell, his whole life was surreal. Peggy had taught him to grab what happiness you could, and he intended to do just that.

He held his hand out to Tony as Pepper grinned at Tony and moved out of the way. Steve pulled him down to sit beside him. 

Tony leaned close and kissed him. It was not what Steve expected at all. It was sweet and simple, just a touch of his lips to Tony’s. 

Tony pulled back. “Well, neither of us exploded. Wanna try again?” 

Steve kissed Tony, pulling him into his arms this time. Tony didn’t resist the embrace but rather melted into Steve’s arms. This kiss was long, wet and set Steve on fire. When they came up for air, Tony was as breathless as he was. 

“I think that experiment was a success,” Tony declared. 

Steve and Pepper both laughed. Pepper sat on the other side of Tony on the deck bench and kissed his cheek. On impulse, Steve kissed the other cheek. 

“ _This_ is the life – being kissed by the sexiest woman in the world and the sexiest man, besides me, of course,” Tony said right before Pepper playfully punched him in the arm. 

They all made out for a while, kissing and giggling, talking about silly things and they all realized they were tired and sleepy. 

When Pepper and Tony went to their bedroom, Tony stopped in the doorway. “You coming with us?” He asked Steve. 

“You sure?” 

“Yep. It’s a big ass bed so we can all fit there easily. Um, Pepper snores.” 

“I do not!” 

“Let me change,” Steve said and was gone. 

He appeared in the doorway of Tony and Pepper’s bedroom a few minutes later in cotton jersey shorts and a white t-shirt. 

Tony motioned him to the king sized bed. “One side or the middle?” 

“I’m good anywhere.” 

Tony ended up in the middle because, Steve thought to himself, he was the center of the universe anyway! There was a little cuddling and kissing, but they were all tired and slept fairly quickly. 

Steve woke in the middle of the night with Tony snuggled up to his back. He smiled and went back to sleep. He woke in the morning with a part of Tony poking against his ass. He decided to pretend to be asleep and promptly fell back asleep. 

The next time he opened his eyes, he smelled coffee and the sun was shining in the double glass doors to the deck. He got up and went to the bathroom, peed and brushed his teeth, then went to his own room and pulled on some sweatpants before going out onto the deck. Tony was gazing at the sea in his dark glasses. 

“Sleep well, Cap?”

“Like a baby. You?” 

“Yep.” 

Tony surprised him by kissing his cheek. Affection from Tony was actually a little stranger than the idea of sex with him, but it was also nice to have someone touch him in that way, in a familiar, friendly way. Bucky was a toucher – there were pats on the back, nudges, and now and again, he’d even ruffled Steve’s hair now and then. 

Pepper came out with a cup of coffee. “Good morning. So do I snore?” She asked Steve. 

“I didn’t hear anything.” 

“See, Tony?” She playfully pinched Tony and went back to the kitchen.

The morning was relaxed and slow. There was a part of Steve that sort of hoped the threesome stuff was just drunken talk, not something real. He really liked both of them and, frankly, needed friends. He wasn’t sure why Tony wanted more. He didn’t know if he wanted jeopardize the friendship they had already.

Steve decided to go for a run on the beach before lunch. He needed to clear his head a little. Things were moving rather rapidly. 

 

Tony was thinking about his suits, about adding some new modifications that would make the life support more stable if he got shot into space again, on purpose or by accident. These were the sorts of things he thought about when he was relaxing. To him, it was better than any sport. Almost as good as sex. 

He watched the tiny dot on the beach getting bigger. Steve was on his way back. He idly wondered how many miles he’d run in the last forty-five minutes. 

He had, so far, tried not to examine his feelings about Cap too closely. He was afraid they were tied in somehow with his feelings about his father. He remembered his father talking about Rogers, remembered Peggy Carter talking about him, too. It was funny that he was exactly the same man they’d spoken so fondly of all those years ago. His father and Peggy had not exaggerated about him at all. 

Steve was easy to get along with unless he got balky as Tony had seen the first time they met on that helicarrier. Steve was used to leading, to making decisions and he didn’t expect to be argued with very much either. Tony knew that this was possibly the first real downtime he’d had had since he was a kid. He’d gone from kid to supersoldier on parade to supersoldier indeed in the war and as soon as he’d been thawed, Fury had put him to work again. That left no time for relationships of any sort. 

Maybe he should drop this thing. It was kind of selfish, he supposed. Steve somehow excited the hell out of him. He didn’t know if it was the hero bit or something else. 

As Cap came closer, he came into focus, tall, strong, with his hair a little shaggy from not bothering to get it cut, a few days’ stubble on his face. He was a perfect specimen. Tony wanted to be close to that perfection. He wanted to rub against it, see if some of the goodness rubbed off on him. 

Tony finally acknowledged to himself that Rogers made his heart beat faster, made his senses sharper and made him feel a longing that he seldom felt.

Pepper came out onto the deck as he watched.

“You can have him by yourself if he’s okay with it.”

Tony hadn’t heard her come out. 

“Why would –” He started but she cut him off. 

“I have eyes. Ask him. He’ll either say yes or no. I’m okay with it. I can share if I have to.”

Tony didn’t say anything, just watched Steve as he reached the deck and climbed the steps, stopping to peel off his t-shirt and run the water from the hose over his body. Tony and Pepper both watched him. 

He looked at them when he was done. “Why do I feel like I need to take a bow?” 

“Sorry,” Pepper laughed. “Surely you’re used to being stared at by now.” 

“You’d think so,” Steve laughed, “but no. Inside I’m still that kid from Brooklyn.”

Pepper looked around and handed a fresh towel to Tony and nodded and went inside. 

Tony handed the towel to Steve. 

“Thanks, but why did she give it to you?” 

“She says I need to ask you something.” 

Steve toweled his wet hair. “Oh yeah? What is that?”

“I’m just asking because she says I should, not because of any other reason. I really am too busy but -”

“What?” 

“Pepper said I should ask you to have, uh, this is weird, that we should be alone, just the two of us, me and you.”

*


	6. Take Off the Suit and Say That

Part 6 – Take off the suit and say that 

Steve’s mouth opened. It wasn’t like he didn’t know, but he didn’t know _that_. He kind of figured that the threesome would be more - him and Pepper, and Tony and Pepper, not him and Tony specifically. It wasn’t actually the first time that a man had asked him. It _was_ the first time he wanted to try it. 

“Well, up for it? Take a pass?” Tony asked and shut up, which was an indication of how nervous Tony was. 

“Yeah, I’m game.” 

“You what?”

“Yes. When?”

“Uh, now works for me. Here? Where?”

“My room?” 

Tony nodded. “Sure, that would be, uh, yeah, let’s do that.”

Steve realized he had no clue what to do. Most of the women he’d dated came on to him, initiated things with him. 

“Let’s go then.” Tony looked like he was going to a funeral. 

“Um, we can just not do it and say we did, if that’s what you prefer.” This was Tony’s deal so why was he so unhappy about it now? “What’s the problem?” 

“I’m good.” 

“okay then, if you’re sure.”

They went to Steve’s room where they spent ten minutes turning down the bed and another sitting on the edge of it, testing its thickness and softness. Then Steve moved his one extra pair of shoes three inches to the left under the chair. 

“Are you this bad with women?” Steve asked Tony.

“Are you?” Tony shot back, rather irritated. 

“Actually, I am. The first and last actual girlfriend I ever had was Peggy Carter and I was a jealous idiot with her. It’s always been them who made the first move, not me. Even at SHIELD, Natasha used to make me ask girls out. I usually told her I was too busy, but I was probably more scared.”

“Well, I, uh, women fell over me because I was cute and rich. Women love to fuck money. I’ve had hundreds, I’d guess. Pepper or Happy always ran them off in the morning.”

“And men?” 

“I’ve had a few but most of those were drunken, buddy fucks in college.” 

“Will this hurt Pepper?” 

“She says not.”

“If you’d rather not, I’m okay with it. I didn’t come on this trip to get laid. I came to get away and see some of the world I haven’t seen. I’ve never even been on a vacation.” 

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a real one either. We go on trips and I work all the time and Pepper tries to have fun without me. Sometimes I wonder what the hell she sees in me, but she doesn’t give up.”

“You are kind of an ass,” Steve said with a laugh.

“You wouldn’t say that if I had on my suit!” Tony said, laughing. 

“Oh yeah?” Steve challenged, really laughing now as well. 

“I gotta ask this, don’t answer if you don’t want to. About Natasha, you and her ever?” He let the question dangle. 

“I don’t kiss and tell.” 

“Tell, please!! Tell!” 

“She thinks we all see her as one of the guys.”

“Has she ever looked in the mirror? I don’t know any man who sees her that way. Not a damned one.” 

“She and I are best friends.”

Not to put off, Tony asked again, “Friends with benefits?” 

“You have a dirty mind, Stark.” 

“We’re sitting here on your bed and we’re supposed to be getting it on. My mind is no dirtier than anyone else’s.” 

“Mine’s not,” Steve said, kidding yet there was a challenge there somewhere. 

“Take off the suit and say that,” Tony said in a tone of voice that had changed. The challenge was there, but there was an edge of – what? Seduction? Maybe. Hunger? Definitely.

Steve only wore the little shorts he’d been running in. “You first.” His own voice was a little deeper, huskier.

Tony’s t-shirt hit the floor. Then his shorts. Steve shrugged and tossed his clothes on the pile. 

He looked at the ARC Reactor and wanted to touch it, to touch Tony’s chest. Tony sat on the edge of the bed again. Steve dropped onto the floor in front of him, onto his knees. He reached his hand out and touched Tony’s chest, tracing a circle around the Arc Reactor. 

“This thing fascinates me,” he murmured as he bent close and dragged the tip of his tongue around the device. Tony’s obvious arousal did not escape his notice but he ignored it for now.

“No one’s ever done that to me, it. Pepper hates the thing.” It was quite obvious from Tony’s voice that he was enjoying what Steve was doing. 

“So you said.” Steve looked up into Tony’s eyes and kissed him, one hand tracing the outside of the machine as he did. 

“Another question,” Tony piped up when they paused in their kisses. “When you grew, did all of you grow or were you like that before?” He looked down at Steve’s cock, as eager and ready as his own.

“Does it matter?”

 

“Not right now, no.” They resumed kissing. Steve growled a little as Tony’s hands began to wander, too. He caressed down Steve’s belly and lower, not touching his cock but following that dark little treasure trail down to it with one finger. He grinned into the kiss when he felt Steve’s hips twitch. “Like that, do you?” he whispered.

“I want you to touch me,” Steve answered. 

“I am.”

Steve grabbed his hand and moved it lower, over his cock. “Touch me!” Steve commanded. 

Tony took him into his hand, feeling the heat, the silky smoothness of skin stretched over the such hardness. “Like that?” Tony asked, his own voice not much more than a growl now. 

Steve closed his eyes and breathed out through his mouth. “Please,” was all he said as he stood up. 

“Oh God,” Tony whispered, not taking his eyes from Steve. 

Tony felt a second of ‘oh shit’ panic. Could he do this? Then he kissed the head of Steve’s cock and ran his tongue around it, before sliding his mouth over it, taking as much as would fit in. Steve put one hand in his hair, gripping his head. 

Tony realized that he’d never done this. Or if he had, he was too drunk to remember. 

Neither mattered right now. He teased the bottom side with his tongue as he pressed his hand against Steve’s abdomen. He breathed in Steve’s scent. His junk even smelled good! Damned super soldier serum! 

He moved from his awkward position on the bed onto his knees. 

Steve thrust into his mouth. Tony could tell that he was trying to show some restraint. Tony let his hand slide closer until he circled Steve with his fingers as well as his mouth. It gave him a tighter grip, made things go a little easier. Steve groaned in approval as Tony worked him with both his mouth and hand. 

Tony could feel the tension building, the slight tightening of all Steve’s muscles, then that little hitch in his breath. He didn’t let up. 

“Oh god, Tony!” 

Tony groaned himself as Steve cried out, spilling into his mouth. He swallowed and kept licking and sucking until Steve stood perfectly still, taking deep breaths and looking down at him. 

He let Steve’s softening cock slip from his mouth and raised his eyes to look up at him. 

 

Steve’s brain was not working at all yet. He wanted to say something stupid and too affectionate to Tony, but finally held his tongue. 

Tony stood up and kissed Steve, letting Steve taste his own semen. 

“Tell me what to do, what you want,” Steve finally said as Tony pressed his erection against Steve as they kissed. 

“Touch me. Jerk me off. I don’t care. I just want you to touch me _right now_.” Tony was close to begging, which made Steve want to please him very badly. 

He reached down between them and put his hand on Tony, circling him and stroking slowly until they found a rhythm, a quickening pace as he pulled Tony down on top of him in the bed. Tony was pressed against him with just enough room to move his hand between. Steve kissed him while he stroked, fucking Tony’s mouth with his tongue. 

Tony was moving his hips, humping the top of Steve’s leg while thrusting into his hand. He drew in a sharp breath and Steve felt the warm fluid spread over his hand and his leg as Tony came. He didn’t stop his hand or his kisses until Tony was done and moved from atop him to lie beside him.


	7. And Pepper Makes Three

Part 7 – And Pepper Makes Three 

Pepper had been outside the door, listening. She wondered why she didn’t feel jealousy, but she didn’t. What had always made her angry and jealous were the faceless ones. Tony had chosen to give himself to strangers that he didn’t even know rather than her, the person who loved him and took care of him. Maybe that’s why she wasn’t angry. 

Steve was not a faceless fuck. Perhaps she needed to make sure Tony didn’t treat him like one. 

Pepper tapped on the door. The two of them were still naked and still on the bed. 

“Wait a minute.” Steve called out. 

She started to just barge in but figured it would embarrass Steve. He opened the door a moment later. He was dressed in his shorts and t-shirt.

“So you’ve had a half a day of slap and tickle. Time to get out of this house and go somewhere. Put those lazy asses in the shower and let’s find something to do. Let all the women here envy me and my handsome man harem!” 

Tony laughed at her. “Damn, I’d have done this sooner if I’d known it was going to make you this happy.”

She kissed his cheek then Steve’s and was gone. 

 

They went to the harbor and ate seafood, looked at the Harbour Town Lighthouse and shopped at some of the little beachy shops. Steve bought an Iron Man t-shirt and insisted on wearing it. Tony couldn’t stop laughing. 

“Does this mean you’re mine? Or that you want to be me?”

“Let’s say I’m a fanboy.” 

“You going to write smutty stories about me and you?” 

Steve’s eyes widened. “Are there such things?” 

“Yes. I’ll show you when we get back to the house. You might die of embarrassment here.”

“Are you two going to act this way all the time now?” Pepper was laughing, too. 

“I hope not,” Steve said. “It’ll hurt my squeaky clean image.” 

“I guess I’m going to have to show you some fan art, too, then.”

“What is that?” Steve asked. Pepper was still giggling. 

“Drawings and photoshopped stuff of things we do to each other. All of us. Not just you and me.” 

“How did I never know any of this stuff?” 

“You’re squeaky clean, remember?” 

When they got back to their house, Tony was true to his word, finding smutty stories and really raunchy nudes of him and Steve, among others, with huge porn star penises and others of them groping one another and having sex. 

“Holy crap! I’m a super soldier and I’m not that bendy,” Steve laughed at one drawing of him and Tony in an impossibly contorted position. 

For some reason, the statement went straight to Tony’s groin. “Are you sure?” 

“You want to try it?” Steve looked at Tony. Tony noticed that little wrinkle between his eyebrows that he got when he was thinking about something. 

Pepper was laughing so hard she was about to fall out of her chair. “I hope neither of you think I’m going to take you both to the hospital if you get stuck that way.”

“Maybe we do a tame version.”

“There is a tame version of people having sex while standing on their heads? Perhaps the three of us do something together instead,” Pepper suggested. “It has to be better than explaining this to paramedics.” 

Tony felt that one in his groin for sure. “That, uh, sounds like a plan, Pepper.” 

 

This was going to happen, Pepper thought to herself. She’d listened to them this morning. Never had she wanted to be a fly on the wall so badly. She never thought she’d _want_ to share Tony but there it was. She did. And she wanted Steve Rogers. He was gorgeous and a nice man, too, which was a rare thing. 

“Our bed is bigger. Let’s go to our room. And I want one rule. If either of you don’t agree, I’m out. If any one of us feels uncomfortable with this, it stops immediately. That work for you two?” 

They agreed and moved to the master bedroom. Pepper kissed Steve. His kisses were nice. That was one thing he surely wasn’t behind on. She felt a little odd when Tony began to caress Steve’s shoulder from behind and she saw him kiss the back of Steve’s neck. 

Steve groaned at the attention from both of them. 

She found herself tugging at his Iron Man shirt. He broke contact to pull the shirt over his head and off. He tossed it to the floor and reached for the hem of Pepper’s shirt, pulling it off and tossing it to the floor with his own. She unfastened her bra and Steve pulled it off. He pulled her close so her naked skin touched his. 

Pepper kissed him again and reached out to Tony, who was still kissing and touching Steve from behind. 

“Yours too, Iron Man,” Steve turned his head and said to Tony. 

Tony obeyed. 

Pepper moved over to lie down and pulled Steve with her. Tony took his place on the other side of Steve. Tony took the opportunity to kiss Steve while Pepper watched. She also saw his hand slide down to rub Steve through his pants. 

“Let’s get them off,” she told Tony and Steve lifted his hips for them to slide his shorts down, freeing his erection. 

Tony was out of his in another few seconds. 

“Your turn, Pepper.” 

She slipped her shorts off. So here she was, naked in bed with her boyfriend and Captain America. She wanted to ride Steve, but she wasn’t ready yet. They all needed some time to get used to this, to find their place and to learn about one another. 

Steve leaned over Pepper and kissed her breasts, both of them before sucking her nipple into his mouth as his hand slipped down her belly to her mound. He parted her with two fingers and rubbed gently into her folds to find what he sought. 

Pepper was a hot mess, wanting them both now. 

She pushed Steve back onto his back and straddled him. He reached up to hold both of her breasts in his hands. She rubbed over his cock, not taking him inside yet but rubbing her wetness all over him, making him grab her hips to stop her or to guide her. She wasn’t sure which yet. 

From beside Steve, Tony reached up to play with her breasts, too. 

“Are you ready?” Steve asked her. 

She didn’t say anything, just reached down to guide him into her waiting warmth. He hissed when he was fully sheathed inside her. 

Tony found the lube in the bedside drawer and after dousing himself and Pepper’s other opening, he got behind her and she bent down over Steve. He pushed slowly into her as well, moving with her as she rode Steve. 

“I can feel him inside you,” Steve told Pepper. 

Pepper couldn’t say anything. The sensations were nearly overwhelming. For her and for them as well. It took a few tries to get their legs all in the right places not to impede movement and another few tries to get their rhythms all together. Then they began their ride in earnest, rocking the bed so hard that it banged the wall a few times. 

Pepper came first, and her orgasmic contractions put both of lovers over almost immediately after her. Steve bit his lip and made almost no sound at all while Tony managed to cry out both names as pleasure took him. 

After their bodies stilled and their breath returned, they moved slowly and gently to separate, each one lying on either side of Steve again. Both Tony and Pepper leaned in to kiss him at the same time and the three shared a kiss. 

*


	8. Back to Reality

Part 8 – Back to Reality 

Back in the real world, things had to be kept a little low key. It would never do for the world to find out that its heroes shared so much so intimately. They didn’t hide it from their friends, but they also never directly told them either. 

Natasha was the only one who really seemed to notice. 

Steve saw her smirk when he came out of Tony’s lab one day.

“What’s that look for?” He asked her as they fell into step beside one another. 

“I saw you leave with them last night?” 

“Them?”

“Tony and Pepper.”

“I went out to dinner with them,” he said and shrugged. “I do eat, you know.”

“But you didn’t come back.” 

“It was late. I slept on their sofa.” 

“Like hell.” 

“What?” 

She grinned. “Steve, You don’t have that lonely look anymore. Not the last few months. So I know you’re getting laid and the only person I ever see you with is Tony or sometimes Tony and Pepper.”

“We hang out.”

“Remember I said you’re getting laid? It has to be Tony or both of them. I’m voting for both. Pepper would cut his dick off if he cheated on her these days, so it has be both of them.”

Steve didn’t answer her but he did turn a nice, bright pink. 

“Oh fuck! Both of them? You dog!” 

“Please… it’s not like that.” 

“Answer one question. Are you enjoying it? Really enjoying it?” 

“Yes. They’re both – they are – we – hell – I can’t explain. I’m certainly not lonely when I’m with them.”

“Then it’s all good.” She kissed his cheek and he knew she meant it. 

*


	9. Even Heroes Gotta Work

Part 9 – Even Heroes Gotta Work 

Even heroes have to venture out to be heroic now and again and the Chitauri attack left New York in a shambles. It also left behind a lot of technology for men of low character to make a profit from, especially from selling it to other criminals and terrorists. 

The call came in from Maria Hill to Steve.

“Captain Rogers, some group identifying themselves as Free Earthers have been identified using Chitauri tech at the airport in Charlotte, North Carolina. They were using small hand weapons and have taken a group of people and planes hostage. We need those weapons and we really need to do this without the people on the planes dying or the planes being destroyed.” 

“Iron Man and I can take out the Chitauri weapons and Natasha and Clint can lead the rescue to get the people off the planes.” 

“Wheels up in 15, Cap, and good luck! Director Fury and I will be on another plane.” 

Steve alerted them all that it was time to go to work, to earn their upkeep. 

Pepper was working outside Manhattan at another SI site. Tony let her know they were on a mission, all he was able to tell her, and off they went. 

SHIELD had the airport, all roads in and out and the airspace shut down. The Quinjets were given clearance to land just outside the airport. 

The Free Earthers were holed up in the international terminal and another group of them was outside the terminal, holding up planes and actually aboard some of them. If they had demands, they didn’t bother to tell anyone. 

Steve and Tony went inside the terminal. Most, if not all of the personnel and passengers were cleared out. They saw armed men down near the American Airlines gate. There were four of them and three carried Chitauri staffs and one had a gun.

Steve went directly after them, using his shield to bounce the shots back at the men. Two were taken out immediately and Tony slipped up behind the other two. One got off a shot at Tony but he ducked it and simply disarmed them and banged their heads together, knocking them unconscious. 

Several more came out, with Steve and Tony making short work of them. They heard explosions outside and rushed out of the terminal. The shell of a van was still burning and Clint was picking off the terrorists one at a time with his bow as they ran away. Natasha and Maria Hill were protecting the planes sitting on the tarmac, planes full of innocent passengers, as Nick Fury and several other SHIELD personnel began evacuating the passengers out the rearmost doors of the planes. 

Iron Man flew back to help with the passengers while Cap went after the stragglers that got away from Barton. 

Fury called out to Tony, “I just got a message. There’s one more inside the terminal and he’s heading out of this section into the main concourse and he’s armed. You and Cap stop his nasty ass and we’ll clean this mess up.” 

“Got it, Cap?” Tony asked. 

“Ready to go!” 

When they got inside, the single armed man was nowhere to be found, until a small girl with huge eyes made eye contact with Steve. She put her finger over her mouth to signal him to be quiet, then she looked toward the women’s restroom and wiggled her eyebrows. 

Steve smiled and mouthed ‘Thank you’ to her as he headed into the restroom. 

He saw no one but he could hear the person breathing. 

“Come out and I won’t have to hurt you. You know I can’t let you hurt these people.” 

The answer was a blast from an energy weapon, maybe one of the guns. He deflected it with his shield.

“All right. The hard way it is.” Steve followed the sound, held up his shield and ripped the stall door from its hinges. Protecting himself with the shield, he wrested the gun from the last terrorist and threw it out of reach then picked up the young man by one arm and carried him out to the waiting SHIELD officers. 

He spoke through his com device. “Clear out there?” 

“Yep,” Fury answered. “I’m getting too old for this shit, children. Let’s pack ‘em up and head home.” 

As the SHIELD teams cleaned up, Steve sought out the little girl. He squatted down to be at eye level with her. “Thank you for helping me. You saved a lot of people. You are a real hero.” The child and her mother beamed at the dirty but still handsome Captain America. 

They were on the Quinjets in another hour, heading home. Steve and Tony were in the rear of the plane. The others pretended not to look as Tony, without his suit now, looked up into Steve’s face adoringly. They didn’t pretend not to look when Steve actually kissed Tony smack on the lips.

“Get a room, you perverts,” called Natasha. 

“No,” Barton sniggered. “I want to see who’s on top.”

“Oh, it’s Cap,” Natasha said. 

“Come on! The old fart ain’t gonna let some fossilized youngster top him!” 

Tony looked at Steve quite seriously. “Do you think anyone would blame us if we tossed them out about right here? We can always claim they were killed by some stray bullets at the terminal.” 

“I can shoot them for good measure,” Steve added, grinning. Then, just to add flames to the fire, he pulled Tony into his arms and kissed him quite thoroughly again. 

“Damn, Romanov,” Clint said. “I want him to kiss me like that!” 

“Be careful what you wish for,” Steve told Clint with a laugh. 

*


	10. I'm on Fire

Part 10 - I’m on Fire 

Tony and Steve hurried to shower and leave Stark Tower once they got back to New York. Tony didn’t want to share Steve with anyone else right now. He wanted Rogers to fuck him senseless. He was way too keyed up to be around anyone normal, even Pepper. 

He had Happy take them to a hotel and get them a room. He sent Happy home, telling him to tell Pepper they were out drinking. Happy did not look very approving and Tony figured that he’d tell Pepper the truth. He usually did. Eventually.

As soon as they got in the room, he shoved Steve against the just closed door and kissed him. 

“Fuck me now.”

Steve didn’t say a word. He jerked Tony’s belt open and shoved his pants down, pushing him to the floor. He quickly scanned the room for something, anything to make things a little less painful for Tony. He saw a small bottle of lotion in the bathroom. Not ideal, but he didn’t give a fuck and he was sure Tony didn’t care. Lotion was slick and that’s all mattered right now.

Steve stripped his own pants off and dropped to his knees behind Tony. 

“All fours,” he growled. He used his fingers to spread the lotion inside Tony then rubbed it all over himself. He grabbed Tony’s hips and pulled him back hard, impaling him with his entire length in one long thrust. When he said Tony’s name, it came out like a prayer. 

Tony made a sound, too, but no discernable words as Steve fucked him. There wasn’t any other word for they were doing. Hot, dirty, needy fucking. 

“Harder,” Tony begged and Steve did as he was asked. He held back only a little, knowing that even Tony couldn’t take all the pain he could dish out, but he did give him all he could handle. Steve didn’t last long under such pressure, crying out Tony’s name over and over as he spilled deep inside Tony, then he collapsed onto Tony’s back, pushing him down to the floor and laying on top of him. 

After he got his breath back, he moved off of Tony and when Tony rolled over, Steve stretched out between his legs and took Tony into his hand then moved closer and up onto his elbows so he could put his mouth on Tony. 

“Damn you, Cap!” Tony tangled both his hands in Steve’s hair, thrusting his hips up and shoving himself deep into Steve’s mouth. Steve took all he could, sucking and licking as much as he was able. 

Tony thrust hard and felt himself pushing against the back of Steve’s throat – that was enough to push him over the edge. Steve swallowed it all and licked him until he was soft and slipped free of his mouth. 

They got up from the floor and moved to the bed. Steve promptly pulled Tony close in spoon fashion and fell asleep. Tony lay there for a while. They probably should go home, but he found himself wanting this time alone with Steve. 

 

Pepper assumed that they had been out on a mission, especially when she’d seen the news report of the terrorists in North Carolina. She also knew that Tony actually wanted Steve to himself sometimes. His attraction to their friend was much deeper than he’d admit to. 

She actually worried more about Tony’s safety than anything else. He had a suit but in the end, he was a man of flesh and blood, not enhanced like Steve or even trained like Natasha and Clint. 

She called Happy when they didn’t come home. “Is he okay, Happy?”

“I’m af -” Pepper cut him off. 

“I don’t care _where_ they are. Is Tony all right?”

“He is, Ms. Potts. He is with Captain Rogers.” 

She thanked him. At least they were not injured. 

*


	11. Returning Heroes

Part 11 – Returning Heroes 

Pepper was more than annoyed that they didn’t come home until late the next morning. She pretty much figured why, knowing how Tony was after he’d done his Iron Man thing. Perhaps it was best that he spent that time with Steve. 

Tony came in by himself. Steve had gone to his own quarters there in Stark Tower. Tony kissed him at the door as he would have a date he really liked, not one of the ones Pepper or Happy ushered out in the mornings. 

“Hi, Pepper,” he said as he came into their lush apartment in the top of Stark Tower. “How are you?” 

She wanted to smack him, but she didn’t. She knew what she was signing up for when she became his girlfriend. 

Oddly enough, she’d seen more real passion in him since they had met Steve than in all the time before. Tony was a good lover, with great technique. He did all the things to bring a maximum of pleasure, but the nights when the two of them had sex with Steve, he stopped trying to impress and simply lived in the moment, in the pleasure. Pepper liked this Tony. Steve seemed to bring out a part of him he kept hidden from her. 

She got up from the sofa and hugged him. “I’m glad you’re safe. That both of you are safe.”

He didn’t act embarrassed as he usually did, just held her close for as long as she wanted him to. 

“Where is Steve?” she asked. 

“He needed some time alone. I think too much Stark can drive a person crazy.” 

Pepper laughed and hugged him again. “Tell me about it!” 

Pepper made him something to eat and gave him his messages just as she always had when she was his assistant. They talked about Stark Industries business for an hour or so. 

“I hate to run out, but I have to go to the office and get some work done,” Pepper told him. “Wanna come?” 

“You know how good I am at paperwork. I’m fine, Pepper.”

She went to her office and read memos and emails, signed some documents and made several phone calls. It was about 4pm when she headed back to their apartment in Stark Tower. She got more than she’d bargained for when she opened the door. 

Tony and Steve were on the sofa and they weren’t watching television. Tony was sitting on Steve, facing away from him and Steve was all the way inside Tony, gripping his hips with both hands as he moved and actually so focused that he didn’t even see Pepper standing there until she spoke. 

“Oh my god!” It slipped out before she could stop it.

They didn’t stop as she stared. Steve’s eyes were closed and Tony was completely absorbed. Pepper didn’t move, didn’t even drop her purse. She listened to the sounds Steve made, the things he whispered to Tony as Tony rode him. 

“I’m gonna move on my knees, Steve. Okay?” Tony said.

Steve made another inarticulate sound that might have been “uh huh,” but Pepper couldn’t tell. Tony moved off of him and onto his knees beside Steve on the sofa. Steve moved, putting one foot on the floor and one knee on the sofa behind Tony and pressed into him again. 

“Better?” 

“Mm,” was Tony’s answer. 

Pepper moved closer to them, sitting in one of the other chairs. She watched only a few seconds before she moved over to sit beside Tony. She kissed him, holding his face in her hands. She was a little surprised when Steve leaned forward far enough to put his hand over hers. She scooted a little closer. 

She knew Steve well enough to know that he was close. He pushed into to Tony and ground his hips against him until she heard his breath hitch and heard his quiet moans. 

He didn’t let go of Tony, just pulled him upright and reached his hand around to take Tony’s cock into his hand. Pepper put her hand over Steve’s this time. With one arm around Tony’s torso and the other quite busy, Steve murmured to Tony. The words were mostly little endearments, little encouragements. 

When they were done, they lay back on the sofa. 

“Is this what you do when I leave you two alone?” 

Tony pulled her close. “Sometimes we hunt bad guys and save the world.” 

Steve laughed. “What he said.” 

“But usually, this,” Tony admitted.

*


	12. All Good Things ... End

Part 12 – All Good Things… End 

Things got bad for Tony and Steve after Sokovia. Tony mourned. For losing Steve. For his parents. For all the things that had come between them. 

Sometimes Pepper couldn’t even stand him and left him for a while, but she always came back. 

She also kept in touch with Steve. No one knew. Not Tony. Not Sam. Not Nat. 

He called her once in a while. He always asked how Tony was doing, always told her how much he loved her, loved Tony. 

It was a long time before she saw the letter he sent Tony. And the burner phone. 

She knew that unless the world needed saving, Tony wouldn’t call him. His pride was too strong. Tony Stark could not show weakness; he simply couldn’t do it. 

They did move on. Tony asked her to marry him. She said yes. 

Tony still tinkered with those damn suits and he encouraged Rhodey’s recovery from the horrible injuries in Siberia. He worked with the government and the UN to make new rules dealing with inhumans and people with powers. Much of the time, his heart simply wasn’t in it.

 

Tony actually knew where Steve was almost all the time, but he never once said a word about catching him, never told anyone. He closed his eyes at night and asked anything out there that was listening to keep Steve safe. When Steve, Natasha and Sam needed equipment, Tony made it happen secretly. He sent them what they needed through other channels so they’d never know. 

He carried that damned letter and phone around with him all the time. He’d read the letter until it was about to come apart. He had it scanned and carried a copy now, the original in his safe. 

Sitting in his office, waiting for Pepper to come home, he took it out and read: 

_Tony,_  
I’m glad you’re back at the compound, I don’t like the idea of you rattling around a mansion by yourself. We all need family. The Avengers are yours, maybe more so than mine. I’ve been on my own since I was 18. I never really fit in anywhere – even in the Army. My faith is in people, I guess. Individuals. And I’m happy to say for the most part, they haven’t let me down. Which is why I can’t let them down either. Locks can be replaced, but – maybe they shouldn’t. I know I hurt you Tony. I guess I thought – by not telling you about your parents I was sparing you, but… I can see now I was really sparing myself. I’m sorry. Hopefully one day you can understand. I wish we agreed on the Accords, I really do. I know you were only doing what you believe in, and that’s all any of us can do, it’s all any of us should. So no matter what, I promise if you -- if you need us. If you need me, I’ll be there.  
Steve 

And he wondered if Steve was all right.

Steve thought of Tony at least as often as Tony thought of him.

He, Sam and Natasha were busy, chasing down Chitauri tech and rounding up men who dealt in the alien materials. Often their tips came secretly from Maria Hill or Nick Fury. He never missed a news cast with Tony on it.

Pepper was sweet. He loved her, too. She’d made him feel like a real person instead of a breathing anachronism when she’d encouraged the odd relationship he had with her and Tony. He’d slowly learned to be a person again with them and finally with everyone else. 

The phone in his pocket rang. Steve’s heart began to pound.


End file.
